Metronome - Common Techniques To Practice
sb81
Jan 24 2008, 06:38 PM
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Posts: 93
Joined: 22-April 07
Hello, sorry I'm sure the information I'm looking for is scattered around the forum, but I'm lazy sad.gif

I finally sucked it up and started using a metronome after thinking I didn't need one as I'm not looking to be a shred god, but realized I still need to use it.

Now my question is...

I'm doing alternate picking for 8th note triplets, 16th notes, and 16th note triplets...

Now here's my question...

I also decided to finally learn tapping while I have the metronome out... I'm only doing 16th note triplets as I believe anything longer isn't necessary? Is this true?
Same with legato, and while I'm on the subject... sweeping.

Should the techniques used mainly for speed be practiced with the longer notes?

Also, what's a typical starting point? I started at 50 bpm for alt picking, as it seems to be a good point for me as anything faster, and my 16th note triplets start to sound real messy and out of time.

Thanks for any input.

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Gerardo Siere
Jan 24 2008, 11:38 PM
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Posts: 2.424
Joined: 20-December 07
From: San Juan
About timing I would give you this tips...
1) Don't practice overslow it makes the excersice or whatever too dificult to play
2) Start at a confortable speed. I must be confortable so you can play cleanly and know exactly what are you doing.
3) The object of practice slow is to let your muscles memorize what they have to do acurately.
4) If you're making mistakes and you don't know that is te mistake you need to focus in discover the mistake, you have to do a non tempo execution looking alternatively different factors (hand positions, strenght applyied etc). If you don{t know what are you doing or why you're doing the metronome isn't going to help you a thing.
5)For deciding what are you going to tell you're muscles to do It must be something that you can razonably thing it{s going to work at full speed, the thing you do slow and fast must be the exactly same thing otherwise you're telling your body several different messages.
Hope it helps you.

About metronome fun there are a lot of stuff you can do specially with slow metronome settings. Some thing really stupid but ara actually pretty difficult, try to clap with your hands at the same time of the click, if you do that exactly the sound is going to sound doubled or merged the click and your hands. Try to do it a 40bpm and do it let say 20 stright times.

6)Remember that there's some kind of time passing between your mind ordering something and your hand actually doing, for example you can play slopy if you're still with your pick still planting on the string when the click happens. it{s the same as the clap excercise, the click should happen with the string realise.
7)Very difficult excercise bpm 40 play 1 against the beat then 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 then 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. If you{re ok with this then for the grous of 2 or bigger take one or more notes and replace them with silends so for example if you play 1 2 3 against click now play 1 silence 3. Must feel evenness in your mind and specially in your body.
8)To avoin slopinness must have everything prepared. One thing si cordination betwenn two hands. Given the fact that you are muting a string whit the left hand no mather how fast you play you must plant and feel the right hand on the string, you must be able too feel both hands in they propper place before start to apply preasure on strings.
9)One common ugly sound is when you dont mute a ringing string apropiately, let's say you're playing notes on open E, now your pick planting should be fast enough to mute the string with out making strang noices. This movement is really fast and you must achieve it smoothly even your playing 1 note against a click at 20bpm. If you use finger picking mute the string with your flesh not with your nails.

Have fun and let me know if this helps you.

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sb81
Jan 25 2008, 03:29 PM
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Thank you, it was certainly helpful.

So I shouldn't practice at overslow speeds...

Should I still be practicing longer notes at higher BPM rates though?

Liking tapping/sweeping/legato 8th note triplets at a comfortable BPM rate? Or stick with 16 note triplets at a comfortable BPM rate?

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Gerardo Siere
Jan 29 2008, 12:17 PM
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From: San Juan
QUOTE (sb81 @ Jan 25 2008, 11:29 AM) *
Thank you, it was certainly helpful.

So I shouldn't practice at overslow speeds...

Should I still be practicing longer notes at higher BPM rates though?

Liking tapping/sweeping/legato 8th note triplets at a comfortable BPM rate? Or stick with 16 note triplets at a comfortable BPM rate?


When doing hamer on and pull offs (tapind is also a hameron or pull off done with both hands) it´s harder to play rythmicly acurate at lower tempos because you may lose some of the strenght/help that gives you the weight of the arm. That weight when you give them propper direction becomes extra strenght for your fingers. You must become aware of this factor and focus when you press and empty fingers at diferent tempos acordingly.

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Gerardo Siere
Jan 29 2008, 12:34 PM
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From: San Juan
About speed It really isn't a big deal as acuracy does. What you must preactice are the same movements your going to do when playing "fast" but you make them "slow" so you can master them first. If you play slow something and do some other thing when playing the same notes fast then the improvement has to do with some new strenght or precition gained without knowledge but this way is blood, sweat and tears, and sometimes with no reward at all.
Try choosing pieces from composition you like that are technically challenging. If you lose all the emotion from the music, then you lose concentration and awareness.

Try changing articulations. Play a piece of scale with your alternate picking, then do it with slurs, then use some taping, they should sound very similar in dinamics and eveness and direction of phrasing.

Try adding more rhythms not only 8ths or 16 or 32ths they are like machinegun rythm look for something that has more consisive begining and ending, add silents, tht has more to do with music, try to get excited with the excercise, so you still have a good time when playing then even you still dont completelly master them.

For more complete description check out in the internet for Guthrie Govan Creative Guitar The book 2 "Cutting edge techniques" it´s so well explained and detailed. Also check Gutrie on youtube for incredible guitar playing.

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